Human Rights Commission Meeting Minutes Community Engagement Committee June 8, 2022 Virtual/Electronic Meeting 6:00 pm Click HERE to access rebroadcasts of past Human Rights Commission meetings on YouTube. Click HERE to access an archive of past Human Rights Commission work on the City website. 1. WELCOME a. CALL TO ORDER i. Chair, Jessica Harris, called the meeting to order at 6:08 pm b. ROLL CALL i. Wolfgang Keppley ii. Lyndele Von Schill iii. Jeanette Abi-Nader iv. Jessica Harris c. MISSION (recited by all): Act as a strong advocate to justice and equal opportunity by providing citywide leadership and guidance in the area of civil rights. 2. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. None 3. MINUTES a. None 4. WORK SESSION a. Discussion of steps moving forward for Community Engagement Committee i. Commissioner asks what distinguishes the Community Engagement Committee from other committees 1. Commissioners review the 2022 HRC Annual Retreat Focus Summary 2. Jeanette volunteers to draft a values or purpose statement for each of the committees ii. Committee Chair talks about committing to certain events or number of events for the HRC to commit to during the year, having a list of other bodies in Charlottesville to reach out to about outreach, and hosting more in-person events 1. Commissioner suggests making in-person events more accessible by having virtual options a. Another Commissioner says that having in-person events can also be more accessible iii. OHR Director says that OHR Outreach Specialist is finishing up OHR brochures and is open to final feedback from Commissioners during the coming week iv. Commissioner asks if events must always be on city-sanctioned platforms (as opposed to personal social media livestreams, etc.) 1. Another Commissioner points out the potential issue of personal social media accounts being subject to FOIA, so HRC or City- specific accounts would be helpful 2. Could ask members of the public who cannot attend the live meetings to submit questions beforehand via a poll a. Question of how to distribute answers after the meeting 3. Commissioner points out that some of these in-person HRC events would be very informal with no actual HRC business being conducted a. Not a meeting so much as a couple of Commissioners tabling, chatting, and handing out flyers, which would not require a livestream (could also do this same thing with open Zoom rooms) 4. HRC Director says a virtual meeting like this would be similar to a town hall, which would be fairly easy to set up with a webinar a. Could still display or send out flyers in a virtual format b. A town hall format, but differs in that there will not be an agenda 5. Commissioner suggests using the virtual platform to invite members of community organizations to talk to each other v. Could do 4 virtual meetings and 4 in-person Downtown Mall tabling events 1. Jeanette and Wolfgang are interested in in-person meetings; Lyndele is interested in virtual meetings 2. Should try to stick to 2 Commissioners for events to be safe, but it is legally acceptable for there to be more so long as no official HRC business is discussed vi. Can email OHR Outreach Specialist to discuss holding up to 4 in-person tabling events, either just the Commission or joining a different event that Outreach Specialist was already planning on attending 1. Lyndele can email OHR Outreach Specialist b. Committee Chair suggests deciding upon which in-person events to hold with the OHR i. OHR Director says there are some big events coming up, such as Westhaven Day on August 6, Region 10 Tonsler Park event in September, Cville Sabroso at IX, etc. 1. These are big events that would draw many people, but there are also smaller-scale events in public/subsidized housing communities OHR Outreach Specialist is planning with Region 10 2. Commission can also just set up on the Downtown Mall without other organizations ii. Commissioner suggests doing at least 2 in-person events with the OHR and 2 events with just the HRC c. Committee Chair asks how best to engage with community members in a virtual format i. Commissioner suggests not providing rigid structure, and more just providing a space for community members to engage with each other 1. Can work with the Housing committee or other committees to provide a little bit of guidance ii. Commissioner asks if town hall-style events are not really the focus of the Housing Equity committee 1. Commissioner expresses interest in providing a forum for service providers and those who use those services to talk about what is working, what is not working, and why 2. Another Commissioner asks if playing this role within the community is perhaps not the Commission’s place, and the HRC’s main role is to be a conduit between the community and Council, not the community and other organizations a. Another Commissioner responds that the HRC is like a closer link to the community of Charlottesville that the rest of the city government often cannot or does not be 3. OHR Director suggests having a town hall-style format and inviting leaders of community organizations as panelists to whom community members can ask questions a. It is helpful to narrow down topics of discussion during the town halls 4. Commissioner says that before advising Council, it is necessary to actually know all of the thoughts of the community, and town halls in the format as previously discussed can help give the HRC this feedback iii. Committee Chair suggests tabling this discussion about exact logistics and focus until the other committees get a chance to meet and decide upon next steps 1. The Community Engagement committee is willing to hold 4 in- person events (2 on its own and 2 with the OHR) and 4 virtual events in order to engage the community and put in contact other community members to discuss relevant concerns 2. Will relay these decisions to the rest of the Commission as well as ask for volunteers for this event d. Committee Chair Jessica passes on Chair title to Lyndele, who will now be running Community Engagement Committee meetings i. New Chair will work with OHR Director on the next committee meeting’s agenda e. Next week’s regular meeting will still occur virtually i. All HRC meetings will be online at least through September f. OHR Director suggests picking a date for the next Community Engagement Committee meeting i. Thursday 7/14/22 at 11am ii. OHR Director will book this time for one hour 5. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. None 6. NEXT STEPS a. Jeanette i. Draft a purpose statement for each of the HRC committees b. Lyndele i. Correspond with Victoria about holding at least 2 in-person events with the OHR ii. Work with OHR Director on next committee meeting’s agenda c. Todd i. Book webinar for next Community Engagement Committee meeting for 7/14/22 at 11am 7. ADJOURN a. Meeting adjourned at 7:06pm